Health Vampiremoon

Flolan is a type of drug known as a prostaglandin, and is used to treat Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. Flolan works by relaxing blood vessels in the lungs and allowing the lungs and heart to achieve more normal levels of function. There are a number of important aspects involved in the safe use of Flolan for PPH treatment. Before taking Flolan Flolan should not be used by people who are allergic to any of the ingredients in the drug, or by anyone with severe congestive heart failure. If you have either of these conditions your doctor must be informed when you are discussing PPH treatment options. Additionally, you should inform your doctor if you are pregnant, or are planning to become pregnant while taking Flolan. Any allergies you have to foods and other substances as well as medications, and any prescription or over-the-counter medicines you are taking should be discussed prior to starting Flolan treatment. Flolan and Drug Interactions Another important aspect of Flolan treatment is the way in which the drug interacts with an extensive variety and range of prescription and over-the-counter medications. These include such commonly-used drugs as Aspirin and Tylenol, as well as more specialized over-the-counter treatments such as Rogaine. Some of these drug interactions can reduce the effectiveness of the Flolan treatment, and other interactions may produce severe side effects. It is vital that you inform your doctor if you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medications prior to being treated with Flolan. Additionally, you should consult with your doctor before taking any medications while you are using Flolan. Side Effects of Flolan Treatment Flolan has numerous minor side effects including feelings of anxiety, pain in muscles or bones as well as in the stomach, back or jaw, headaches, dizziness or nausea, and vomiting. More serious side effects include chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and unexplained bruising or bleeding. If you experience any of these side effects while taking Flolan, it's important to consult your doctor as soon as possible. Even minor side effects should be reported, as your doctor may want to adjust your Flolan dosage. Overdoses Because Flolan is administered intravenously it is usually handled, stored and administered by a trained medical professional. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to use Flolan at home and administer it yourself. Any Flolan at home should be safely stored away from children and pets, and Flolan should be used in accordance with your doctor's advice. Symptoms of a Flolan overdose include headaches, lightheadedness, fainting, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and rapid heart rate. If you suspect a Flolan overdose, contact your local medical emergency facility immediately. Staying Safe while Using Flolan Flolan can cause dizziness, and this effect can be increased if you drink alcohol, or if you take certain medications in addition to Flolan. For this reason, it is safer to avoid driving or performing other activities which may be hazardous, until you know how your body will react to the drug. The side effects of Flolan treatment differ between individuals, and you may react more or less severely depending on your unique circumstances. The effects of Flolan on pregnancy and breast-feeding are not yet established. If you are pregnant prior to being treated with Flolan your doctor may discuss alternative treatments. If you wish to become pregnant while you are already taking Flolan, they may want to reduce your dosage or change your treatment plan while you are pregnant. Your doctor may even suggest that it would be safer if you change your pregnancy plans. In all situations, if you are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding while taking Flolan or prior to being treated with Flolan, discuss your situation with your doctor to make sure both you and your baby remain safe. Flolan may cause severe withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly stop taking the drug. These effects include shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, weakness, and dizziness. Any withdrawal from Flolan treatment should only be done on medical advice, your doctor may want to slowly reduce your dosage rather than stopping it altogether. If you miss one or more doses of Flolan for any reason, contact your doctor as a safety measure. The most important aspect of safe use of Flolan is staying in regular contact with your doctor. Inform them of any side effects, and consult them before taking any medications in addition to Flolan. Please note that this article should not be considered a substitute for expert medical advice. If you are in doubt about any aspects of your PPH treatment it is always best to consult your doctor or another medical professional for further advice.

Growing waistlines equal growing health care costs. At least that's how it seems regarding health and health insurance. A famous documentary has already shown the short-term impact of too many super-sized meals. But did you know that there's another price you're paying now - in health insurance dollars - for our nation's weight problem? Health insurance rates have been rising, with double-digit increases in each of the past three years. Most analysts blame these rising costs on an increased use of medical services. Are we just a nation of hypochondriacs? Why are we visiting doctors' offices in droves? As many experts are pointing out, part of the answer may be obesity. More than 60 percent of Americans presently qualify as overweight or obese. Even among children, obesity rates have tripled over the past decade. Obesity is known to considerably raise your risk of orthopedic problems, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, certain types of cancer, and respiratory problems. The Surgeon General's office estimates that obesity costs the economy more than $100 billion a year. Insurance companies understand that obesity is costly. If you're an obese person trying to get health coverage, you may be turned down due to the risks associated with your weight. If you're not turned down, you'll probably pay more for coverage, up to twice as much as a slimmer person. And even though you can't be turned down for employer-sponsored health insurance based on obesity, the increased cost of insuring you becomes a financial burden not only for you, but also for your coworkers. Now this doesn't mean that skinny people should blame heavier people for the annual insurance rate hikes that everyone dreads. There are other factors involved, like the increased use of prescription drugs and costly new medical technologies. But if the majority of Americans is obese and it's substantially more expensive to insure an obese person, you can begin to see how big a role an expanding waistline may play in expanding health insurance costs. So, what can we all do about this waistline epidemic? In the United States alone, obesity is expected to overtake smoking as the number-one cause of preventable death. Through a combination of government action and an aggressive public persuasion campaign, smoking is on the decline. These tactics can also be used in the battle on obesity. Or perhaps we need to make the connection between obesity and health insurance costs more apparent to encourage our government and public health organizations to help in the battle of the bulge. Maybe that will encourage health insurance companies to expand coverage for weight-loss programs and procedures. Most importantly, perhaps if we feel the impact of obesity in our pocketbooks, we'll take our health more seriously. If you've never considered the ramifications of what you eat, maybe you should. It may not seem like it will affect your health now, but it certainly will in the long run. And as you'll discover, what affects your health also will eventually affect your bank account.

You may have heard of "homeopathy" but you are not sure what it is. Simply put, it is a system of medicine that treats a condition with highly diluted natural substances that mimic the symptoms of the condition being treated. This concept seems paradoxical to most. Homeopathy is a difficult concept to grasp. How do you cure someone of an illness by giving them a tiny concentration of something that can actually cause the disease? One would think that this would simply make the person even more sick. But, according to proponents of the science, homeopathy not only works, but is much more effective than conventional medicine. They claim that conventional medicine only suppresses the immune system and prolongs the illness. There are actually quite a few homeopathic products in your local pharmacy. The FDA requires that homeopathic products indicate what kind of product it is somewhere on the packaging. The easiest way to tell what kind of product you are buying is by examining the list of ingredients on the back or the on the side of the packaging. With homeopathy, all of the ingredients are diluted, so each ingredient in such a product has the letter "X" after it. So, if one of the ingredients is "Zinc 20X", that means the product contains Zinc that has been diluted 20 times. One of the most popular cold medicines on the market, "Zicam," is actually a homeopathic remedy that consists of diluted zinc in the form of a nasal gel. There are homeopathic remedies available for almost every condition. Cold, flu, allergy, even bedwetting; there is a homeopathic remedy available for almost every condition. Homeopathy is universally recognized as being safe, as the ingredients used are natural substances diluted many times over. Because there is such a small concentration of the ingredients, many opponents of the science, including the drug companies that make conventional medicines and are afraid of the growing popularity of natural medicine, claim that any relief an ill person receives after using a natural product is the result of the placebo effect. Since the FDA does not require most natural products to undergo clinical testing before being sold to the public, the detractors feel that it does not actually work. So, who is telling the truth? Does homeopathy really work or is it a bunch of nonsense? In my opinion, it works. There have been several clinical trials done over the years to test the efficacy of homeopathic products. Liddell Laboratories makes a product called Vital HGH. Vital HGH is designed to treat the symptoms of aging and/or a rundown condition. In a small clinical trial performed years ago, a group of test subjects who were deficient in human growth hormone, ranging in age from 45 years and up, were given the Vital HGH formulation. The results speak for themselves. During the five month clinical trial, the levels of HGH in the blood increased in every test subject, and more than doubled the average level of HGH. Homeopathy does work. I speak from personal experience. I used such a remedy to deal with the allergy attacks I was having, and the medicine not only stopped the attacks faster than the Claritin I had been taking previously, but it also prevented subsequent allergy attacks. So, why is there a controversy? Well, there is a public perception that homeopathy is the same thing as holistic healing or faith-based medicine. This is simply not accurate. Homepathy and natural medicine in general make big drug manufacturers worry that such products might be more effective for treating common illnesses as opposed to the more expensive prescription versions that make the pharmaceutical companies rich. Most natural products are incredibly cheap. A prescribed conventional medicine costs a lot more. If the public began demanding natural remedies to treat their ailments, drug companies would have to make these kinds of products to stay in business, and then their profits would shrink. Imagine if Pfizer had to stop manufacturing Viagra, which they sell at $20-$30 per pill, and instead make a homeopathic product that would retail for only $20 for a one month supply. This is why drug companies often spend significant amounts of money to debunk claims that homeopathy works, using a wide variety of misinformation tactics to instill a belief in the public that natural medicine is is not effective for treating common ailments. I am not saying that you should discontinue the use of conventional medicines. But, next time you go to the pharmacy, take a look at some of the natural brands on the shelf and give them a try. For common ailments that are not life threatening, a homeopathic product is probably a cheaper and more effective alternative.

Nearly two years ago I happened to be up in Sedona, AZ and I picked up a tiny book about "Intentions". It cost $4, and I didn't even know what it was all about, but I felt I should buy it. Turns out it was about a group of friends in Hawaii who began meeting once a week socially and shared with each other what they wanted to get out of life in the next week or so. Their intentions began to manifest on a regular basis, and as other folks heard about their results, the group grew. Tony Burroughs and his friends called themselves, The Intenders of the Highest Good, and they made a video of a typical meeting to illustrate the components so others could follow the model and create more groups. Before I'd finished reading the book, I decided I'd like to form a group of my own. When I got to the end of the book, I was excited to see the 'how' all laid out for me. The book I'd purchased was their "Handbook", and it explained not only how to hold a meeting and state your intentions, but how to order a "community pack" of 10 handbooks and the video so you could start your own group. I sent away for the material and put my thinking cap on to decide where to go from there. We’d lived in Apache Junction for about a year, and knew but a few neighbors because we'd immigrated from Canada. I only had one friend who knew anything about 'intending'. The rest of our neighbors could have thought me stark raving bonkers if I didn't present this idea correctly. I was very nervous, but believed I owed it to the world to perpetuate the concept of creating our own reality to propel us toward 'the 100th monkey", so I invited a bunch of neighborhood women only, told them not to bring their wallet, and that I couldn't tell them why I was inviting them over for wine and snacks; that I had to tell them face to face. About half of the number I'd invited could make it, so I had a fair group, and, as I suspected, not one of them had ever heard of The Law of Attraction. As delicately as I could, I explained that what I was about to share was a gift, and they may think I'm a crazy Cannuck, but I felt they had the right to know, and I hoped they would accept it in the spirit in which it was given. I showed them the video, gave everyone a handbook, explained what intending had done for others and about the big picture as far as the tipping point, and asked them to let me know if they were interested in meeting on a regular basis. A year later, we have a list of about 25 who have been to at least one meeting, and a group of about 8 regulars meeting at my home every two weeks. Most of them are not the original people I invited, BUT, many of them are women who found out about my group on Tony Burroughs' website, and some brought friends or associates. We keep growing! I am so grateful I acted on that little whim. I would never have met this incredible group otherwise. Because we meet as a master mind and share our intentions, we give power to each other; our energy is magnified exponentially, so our dreams can manifest so much more rapidly. We were all meant to be here, and I thank Spirit for helping me dream big and make a worthwhile contribution to the world, and the lives of some magnificent women.

Wireless telephones are hand-held phones with built-in antennas, often called cell, mobile, or PCS phones. These phones are popular with callers because they can be carried easily from place to place. Wireless telephones are two-way radios. When you talk into a wireless telephone, it picks up your voice and converts the sound to radiofrequency energy (or radio waves). The radio waves travel through the air until they reach a receiver at a nearby base station. The base station then sends your call through the telephone network until it reaches the person you are calling. When you receive a call on your wireless telephone, the message travels through the telephone network until it reaches a base station close to your wireless phone. Then the base station sends out radio waves that are detected by a receiver in your telephone, where the signals are changed back into the sound of a voice. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) each regulate wireless telephones. FCC ensures that all wireless phones sold in the United States follow safety guidelines that limit radiofrequency (RF) energy. FDA monitors the health effects of wireless telephones. Each agency has the authority to take action if a wireless phone produces hazardous levels of RF energy. FDA derives its authority to regulate wireless telephones from the Radiation Control provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (originally enacted as the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968). FCC derives its authority to regulate wireless telephones from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. What about wireless phone interference with medical equipment? Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with some electronic devices. For this reason, FDA helped develop a detailed test method to measure electromagnetic interference (EMI) of implanted cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators from wireless telephones. This test method is now part of a standard sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Medical instrumentation (AAMI). The final draft, a joint effort by FDA, medical device manufacturers, and many other groups, was completed in late 2000. This standard will allow manufacturers to ensure that cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators are safe from wireless phone EMI. FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from handheld wireless phones and helped develop a voluntary standard sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This standard specifies test methods and performance requirements for hearing aids and wireless phones so that that no interference occurs when a person uses a compatible phone and a compatible hearing aid at the same time. This standard was approved by the IEEE in 2000. FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for possible interactions with other medical devices. Should harmful interference be found to occur, FDA will conduct testing to assess the interference and work to resolve the problem. What research is needed to decide whether RF exposure from wireless phones poses a health risk? A combination of laboratory studies and epidemiological studies of people actually using wireless phones would provide some of the data that are needed. Lifetime animal exposure studies could be completed in a few years. However, very large numbers of animals would be needed to provide reliable proof of a cancer promoting effect if one exists. Epidemiological studies can provide data that is directly applicable to human populations, but 10 or more years follow-up may be needed to provide answers about some health effects, such as cancer. This is because the interval between the time of exposure to a cancer-causing agent and the time tumors develop - if they do - may be many, many years. The interpretation of epidemiological studies is hampered by difficulties in measuring actual RF exposure during day-to-day use of wireless phones. Many factors affect this measurement, such as the angle at which the phone is held, or which model of phone is used. What is FDA doing to find out more about the possible health effects of wireless phone RF?FDA is working with the U.S. National Toxicology Program and with groups of investigators around the world to ensure that high priority animal studies are conducted to address important questions about the effects of exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF). FDA has been a leading participant in the World Health Organization International Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Project since its inception in 1996. An influential result of this work has been the development of a detailed agenda of research needs that has driven the establishment of new research programs around the world. The Project has also helped develop a series of public information documents on EMF issues. FDA and the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) have a formal Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to do research on wireless phone safety. FDA provides the scientific oversight, obtaining input from experts in government, industry, and academic organizations. CTIA-funded research is conducted through contracts to independent investigators. The initial research will include both laboratory studies and studies of wireless phone users. The CRADA will also include a broad assessment of additional research needs in the context of the latest research developments around the world. What steps can I take to reduce my exposure to radiofrequency energy from my wireless phone? If there is a risk from these products--and at this point we do not know that there is--it is probably very small. But if you are concerned about avoiding even potential risks, you can take a few simple steps to minimize your exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF). Since time is a key factor in how much exposure a person receives, reducing the amount of time spent using a wireless phone will reduce RF exposure. If you must conduct extended conversations by wireless phone every day, you could place more distance between your body and the source of the RF, since the exposure level drops off dramatically with distance. For example, you could use a headset and carry the wireless phone away from your body or use a wireless phone connected to a remote antenna. Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that wireless phones are harmful. But if you are concerned about the RF exposure from these products, you can use measures like those described above to reduce your RF exposure from wireless phone use.